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The present invention relates to lighting fixtures and in particular to a modular lighting fixture that can be assembled in various configurations.
Home and work spaces typically have some type of fixture for mounting one or more light bulbs, be it incandescent, flourescent or otherwise. Lighting fixtures that suspend light bulbs from a ceiling or wall must include a means for running the electric conductors from the electric wiring of the building to the light bulbs. It is usually desired to conceal the electrical conductors for aesthetic reasons. This is particularly true for cluster lighting fixtures having numerous light bulbs, and thus multiple electrical lines.
Lighting fixtures have been developed that have hollow hangers acting as conduit for the electrical conductors. An example of such a lighting fixture is given in U.S. Pat. No. 1,680,094 which defines a spoked fixture with lamps fixed at the ends of the spokes.
This fixture and other conventional cluster lighting fixtures do not provide the flexibility to change the number or position of the light bulbs because the light bulbs typically branch from a center base or circular (or otherwise) banding. For users wishing a different number or position of lights, suppliers must inventory a wide variety of different structures.
Some modular lighting fixtures have been developed with separate spacer components that can be connected in various orientations to change the configuration of the lighting fixture as well as increase or decrease the number of lamps. An example of such a lighting fixture is given in U.S. Pat. No. 5,329,434.
Existing cluster lighting fixtures, however, typically require time consuming rewiring or reconstruction when changing the configuration of the fixture or when adding or removing one or more lamps to the fixture.
Accordingly, an improved modular cluster lighting fixture is desired.
The present invention provides an improved cluster lighting fixture comprised of modular components allowing for the overall configuration of the lighting fixture to be changed readily.
In particular, the present invention provides a lighting fixture suspended from above by a hanger and having a plurality of lamps supported by a plurality of lamp supports. Two of the lamp supports are joined together removably by a spacer structure. Electrical wiring extends along the hanger through the lamp supports and to the lamps.
In a preferred form, each lamp support includes a clamp body and two tubular support arms. Each clamp body includes inner and outer parts that clamp around ends of the spacers, which can be tubular or solid and arcuate or rectilinear. The inner and outer parts have an opening at a top side for receiving an end of a hanger and one or more of the parts have openings for receiving the ends of the support arm. Mounting brackets fastened to the inside of the clamp body engage and hold the spacers to the clamp body. Pairs of electrical conductors for the lamps can run through the hangers and in between the inner and outer parts of the clamp bodies. Other pairs of conductors run through the support arms from the clamp bodies to the lamps.
In another preferred form, the lighting fixture includes plurality of lamps and a lamp support, suspended by a hanger, for supporting the lamps. The lamp support has a clamp body and support arm structures removably extending from opposite sides of the clamp body to support lamps on opposite sides of the clamp body.
In another preferred form, the hangers connect to the clamp bodies at pivotal connections.
In yet another preferred form, one or more of the plurality of lamp supports includes two or more support arms extending from opposite sides of the clamp bodies. In such lamp supports, both the inner and outer parts have one or more openings for receiving support arms.
In still another preferred form, the spacers and the lamp supports are connected to form a closed path, such as a circle, triangle, oval, square or rectangle. In this case, a correspondingly shaped lens can be placed onto the lighting fixture within the closed path. Alternatively, the lighting fixture can form an open-ended path, such as an a wavy or S-curve configuration.
Thus, the present invention provides a lighting fixture that can be easily assembled into various configurations and to have any number or configuration of lamps. This is accomplished by connecting the suspension elements and the lamps to lamp supports, thereby allowing the spacers to be of any configuration and the lamps to be added to or removed from the lamp supports as desired.
Another object and advantage of the lamp fixture is that it can be suspended from an angled surface, such as a sloped ceiling. This allows the fixture to be mounted in more spaces where light is required. This is accomplished by the pivotal connection of the hangers to the clamp bodies. The pivotal connection also allows the fixture to sway slightly if moved, thereby absorbing some of the energy from an impact or shift in the supporting structure, as in the event of an earthquake.
The foregoing and other advantages of the invention will appear from the following description. In that description reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof and in which there is shown by way of illustration preferred embodiments of the invention. These embodiments do not represent the full scope of the invention. Thus, the claims should be looked to in order to judge the full scope of the invention.